How To Handle Quotes, MLA-Style

It is important to know how to effectively use quotations in your papers. The following are examples of how to properly use quotations. Note that every quotation—whether a direct quotation that exactly copies someone else’s work word-for-word OR an indirect quotation that puts someone else’s work into your own words—needs to be documented. That means that you give credit to the source. FDR uses the MLA system for this. Keep in mind that if you use someone else’s idea, even if you don’t directly or indirectly quote it, you must still give that person credit. You do that in the same way that you handle quotations.

A short quotation of no more than 4 lines, with author mentioned in your writing:
Subject: Joseph Campbell, educator and author, who is famous for his books on mythology

Lucille French, writing in the magazine The Village Voice, wrote, “There is no one quite like Joseph Campbell. He knows the vast sweep of man’s panoramic past as few have ever known it” (24).

Note that the above is double-spaced, just like your paper should be. Also note that the author is named in the student’s text. Finally, note that the quotation ends with the second set of quotation marks, followed by a space, then a parenthesis, then the page number the quote is from, then the other parenthesis, and THEN the period of the sentence.

A short quotation of no more than 4 lines, with author not mentioned in your writing:

As one critic noted in the magazine The Village Voice, “There is no one quite like Joseph Campbell. He knows the vast sweep of man’s panoramic past as few have ever known it” (French 24).

Note that the author’s name now appears inside the parentheses, before the page number. Further note that there is no comma or anything else—just one space—between the author’s name and the page number.

A long quotation of more than 4 full lines, with author mentioned in your writing:
Subject: The Brothers Grimm, publishers of fairy tales in Germany in 1812

Peter Opie, author of The Classic Fairy Tales, recognized the important contribution made by the Grimm Brothers.

He wrote:

The Grimms were visionaries: the first substantial collectors to like folk tales for their own sake; the first to write the tales down in the way ordinary people told them. . . ; and the first to include the identity of the people who told the tale. The Grimms revived popular interest in the oral tradition at the same time that they instituted critical interest, beginning an interest in a previously unexamined literary past. (39)

Notice how longer quotations are indented from the left margin of the page—tab twice (they are indented twice as much as your paragraphs are). Also note how they have no quotation marks around them. Finally, note that the period is at the end of the sentence, followed by two spaces and then your page number in parentheses.

A long quote of more than 4 full lines, with author not mentioned in your writing:

The author of The Classic Fairy Tales recognized the important contribution made by the Grimm Brothers. He wrote:

The Grimms were visionaries: the first substantial collectors to like folk tales for their own sake; the first to write the tales down in the way ordinary people told them. . . ; and the first to include the identity of the people who told the tale. The Grimms revived popular interest in the oral tradition at the same time that they instituted critical interest, beginning an interest in a previously unexamined literary past. (Opie 39)

As you can see, the change is identical to the change from author mentioned to no author mentioned for shorter quotations—you put the author’s name inside the parentheses.

Crediting indirect quotes, author mentioned in your writing:

The Grimm brothers’ major influence was the introduction of fairy tales into our society. They liked to collect folktales and copy them down the way ordinary people would tell them. This made folktales more accessible to others because they were written in a way people were used to hearing them, just as Peter Opie has noted (39).

Crediting indirect quotes, author not mentioned in your writing:

The Grimm brothers’ major influence was the introduction of fairy tales into our society. They liked to collect folktales and copy them down the way ordinary people would tell them. This made folktales more accessible to others—they were written in a way people were used to hearing them (Opie 39).

Notice how these statements were not copied word-for-word from the quotation but are paraphrases of what the quotation said. Although it is not a direct quote, paraphrasing is considered to be plagiarizing if you do not credit the source for the information you are borrowing. Borrowing someone else’s ideas is considered in the same way. Always put a citation in if you are not sure if you are plagiarizing. It is better to over-credit people for their ideas than to steal the ideas and not give any credit at all and be accused by your teacher(s) of plagiarizing. Refer to the Student Handbook for the school policy on the subject—the consequences are harsh!